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Determination of plutonium isotopes in seawater samples by Semiconductor Alpha Spectrometry, ICP-MS and AMS techniques

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Abstract

Analysis of plutonium isotopes by Semiconductor Alpha Spectrometry (SAS), ICP-sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) was carried out in seawater samples collected from the Northeast Atlantic Ocean (nuclear waste dumping sites) and Northwest Pacific Ocean. No particularly elevated levels of the atom ratios of 240Pu/239Pu compared to global fallout ratio (0.18) were found in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean seawater samples. The higher levels of atom ratios of 240Pu/239Pu were found in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. This is mainly due to contribution from the local fallout from nuclear weapon tests carried out at the Pacific Proving Grounds at the Marshall Islands.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Captain and the crew of the research vessel “Bosei Maru” and “Walther Herwig III” for their assistance. The International Atomic Energy Agency is grateful to the Government of the Principality of Monaco for support provided to its Marine Environment Laboratories.

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Author notes

  1. P. P. Povinec

    Present address: Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Atomic Energy Agency, Marine Environment Laboratory, Monaco Cedex, Monaco

    S. H. Lee, P. P. Povinec, J. Gastaud, J. J. La Rosa & E. Wyse

  2. Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon, 305-600, Republic of Korea

    S. H. Lee

  3. Ionizing Radiation Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA

    J. J. La Rosa

  4. New Brunswick Laboratory in Argonne, Argonne, Illinois, USA

    E. Wyse

  5. Department of Nuclear Physics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 02000, Australia

    L. K. Fifield

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  1. S. H. Lee
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  2. P. P. Povinec
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  3. J. Gastaud
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  4. J. J. La Rosa
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Correspondence to S. H. Lee.

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Lee, S.H., Povinec, P.P., Gastaud, J. et al. Determination of plutonium isotopes in seawater samples by Semiconductor Alpha Spectrometry, ICP-MS and AMS techniques. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 282, 831 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-009-0154-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-009-0154-z

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